The NFL has done a great job with the draft.  Turning it into a must see event.  Going from a weekend event to a prime time event has really paid off.  Pulling off a huge win with the basement draft.  The lead up to the draft is always very interesting.  This year it was even more so.  It has been over a month since we have had any major live sports events. We had extra mock drafts this year.  Which led to some really strange trades and picks.  I am good with that.  It is all in good fun.  We were hearing some rumblings that the Mock drafters had a lot of it wrong and we were going to be in for some huge surprises.  That pretty much turned out to not be the case.

Most of the draft at least the top part of it went exactly as predicted.  The top of the draft went that way mostly because those teams had needs in those spots and the players there have the potential to be game changing players.  Here are the big winners and losers from the first round of the draft.

NFL 2020 Draft Winners

1. The Bengals and Joe Burrow – Big winners here.  Burrow seems like the real deal.  Sometimes a pick just falls in the right spot.  The only thing you have to do is just not screw it up.  There had been talk about a possible trade going on here.  No chance of that.  Even the Bengals could figure out that this was the pick to make.  There is always a chance that a pick does not work out.  Nothing in the NFL is a given.  Burrow is the closest there has been to a sure thing since Andrew Luck.  He is basically a local to Cincinnati and he will sell tickets.  Has the arm and the personality to make it happen.  Now the Bengals just need to build the right team around him.
2. Chase Young and the Redskins – there was talk about a possible trade here as well.  I really think that Chase Young is the best player in the draft.  Saying that the Bengals still made the right choice with Burrow.  That need of a quarterback by the Bengals paid off for the Redskins.  Chase Young has the potential to be one of those 10 year game changing players.  The Redskins already had a formidable defense.  Adding Young to that defense makes them that much better.  This is setting the Redskins up for a defense that will wreak havoc on the offenses of the NFC East for years.
3. Ohio State – The OSU came out as a big winner for getting their name out there all over the draft and by showing they can pick talent.  Joe Burrow went one from LSU but he got his start at Ohio State and if he had not gotten hurt in the spring game of his last season at Ohio State he probably would have been the starter.  I am sure he is not losing any sleep over it things worked out pretty well for him.  Then at the second pick Chase Young and at the third pick Jeff Okudah.  I don’t know how many times something like this has happened that the top three players had at one point all been on the same team.  It does look good for Ohio State going forward.  This is a huge selling point to recruits.
4. The Miami Dolphins and Tua Tagovailoa – The Dolphins got the player they probably wanted all along.  They thought they were going to have to tank to get Tua.  They ended up winning a few games last year and took themselves out of the first pick.  Then things fell there way and Tua dropped to the fifth pick.  They got their quarterback a top lineman to block for him in Austin Jackson and then were happy to trade down with the Packers so they could take cornerback Noah Igbinoghene from Auburn.  They made three decent picks in the first round.  They don’t have to deal with Tom Brady anymore in their division and they are putting together a team that will actually have a chance to contend.  Of course this all depends on if Tua can stay healthy.  If he can then this was a great pick.  If he can’t it was still worth the risk.

NFL 2020 Draft Losers

1. Aaron Rodgers – I get what the Packers are thinking.  You have to look to the future.  But on the other hand there are also things that you need now.  Trading up to draft Jordan Love in the first round may turn out to be a good pick in three or four years.  For this year it does absolutely nothing for your team.  The Packers are in serious need of a wide receiver to go along with Davante Adams.  There was a run on the top five receivers in the middle of the first round. If the Packers were going to trade up people were thinking that the were going to trade up to get one of those receivers.   I am sure that when this pick was announced there was a collective puzzled look by Packer players and fans.
2. Running Backs – there were no running backs taken in the first round this year.  The running back has been a devalued position for a while now.  I think it is a bit strange that there were none take this year.  It is not a complete surprise.  With five receivers taken in the first round it is showing the emphasis on the passing game.  This will change again at some point and watch for a bunch to go in the second round.  There are some really good value picks out there now for running back.

Other than that there were not a lot of losers in the first round.  It will be interesting to see how round two goes.

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With all the social distancing going on I am sure that these deals will be signed with some kind of a disclaimer in them about being contingent on a physical.  I don’t see how else they would be able to do them with out that.  There so many trades cuts and free agent signings that I am only going to look at a few of them for now.  As we get trapped inside over the next few weeks I hope to have time to go into more detail.

Free Agent Frenzy Strange

There are deals of all kinds every year.  Like a generational player sometimes there are generational trades.  Depending on which team you are that trade will turn out to be a really good trade or it will turn out to be a really bad trade.

Texans Trade DeAndre Hopkins out of Spite

In the category of a major head scratcher is the trade between the Houston Texans and the Arizona Cardinals.  In a deal that shows why most coaches should not be the coach and the GM.  Bill O’Brien traded his most explosive offensive weapon in DeAndre Hopkins and a fourth round pick to the Arizona Cardinals for a past his prime running back in David Johnson and a second round pick this year and a fourth rounder in 2021.  So basically the Texans traded a receiver in Hopkins that is at the top of his game for a second round pick.  The fourth round picks will basically be a wash.   Getting David Johnson would have been great three years ago maybe even four.  Getting him now does not really help your team that much.  If at all.  Maybe O’Brien was looking for some veteran leadership on his team.  I really don’t belive that is the case.

What it more than likely comes down to is that O’Brien and Hopkins did not have the greatest relationship.  O’Brien has show that is not very flexible as a coach.  As with most coaches coming out of the Bill Belichick coaching tree they all think they can do things like Bill.  even though they share the same first name that is all they share.  With the amount of talent the Texans have had.  This team has vastly under achieved under O’Brien.  When he was named GM as well as coach a lot of people got whip lash from doing the double take.  This deal just shows that they were probably right.  It could work out.  More than likely it will go down as one of the worst deals ever for the Texans and an amazing deal for the Arizona Cardinals and Kyler Murray will send Bill O’Brien a Christmas card every year thanking him for making this trade.

Bill O’Brien is saying now that he traded Hopkins because he had three years left on his contract and was looking for a raise.  That could very well be true.  I am sure that almost every other GM in the NFL would have handled that request much differently than to ship your best player off for a bag of peanuts.

Tom Brady to Tampa Bay

I really thought that he was going to go back the the Patriots.  Turns out he was done in New England.  He is not the first high profile quarterback to move on from a long time team.  Joe Nameth finished his career with the Rams.  Brett Favre went to the Jets so he could finish with the Vikings and prove to the Packers he still had a few years in him.  Joe Montana finishing up in Kansas City.  It has happened before and it will happen again.  The most recent high profile switch was Payton Manning going to Denver and winning a super bowl.  Of course it is funny that in the year in Denver he was really good they did not win the Super Bowl.  In the season where he was a shell of himself they won.  Interesting how things turn out.

Brady signed a two year $60 million contract with the Buccaneers.  This looks like it will be a really good deal for everyone involved.  Even if Brady is not the quarterback he used to be it will still bring stability to the Buccaneers offense.  With Winston at the controls putting up numbers was not a problem.  The killing of drives with all the turnovers was the problem.  Even if Brady somehow throws 15 interceptions that would be half the number of Winston.  That alone would lead to at least one more win.  Probably more.  Of course this is assuming that nothing else goes wrong during the season.

Something that might be even more important than cutting down on the interceptions is the stability and leadership Brady will bring to the team.  Not only to the offense but to the whole team.  This will give Brady the opportunity to show that he can do it without Belichick and give Tampa another shot at a Super Bowl.

Ryan Tannehill for the Win with the Titans

Tannehill turned a move from the Dolphins to the Titans into a huge payday.  When the Titans signed him it was thought that he would be a backup to Marcus Mariota.  Tannehill was named the starter week 7 after Mariota had been mostly ineffective.  He was able to have a really good second half of the season and lead the Titans to the AFC Championship game.  The Titans had a really impressive season and a fantastic playoff run.

The Titans were rumored to be in the hunt for Brady.  When it became clear that they were not going to get him the Titans went all in on Tannehill to take them into the 2020 season.  The Titans let Mariota leave and go to the Raiders.  His time with the Titans was done anyway.

The Titans are all in with Tannehill for at least a few years.  With the guaranteed money $62 million they are going to have to commit to him for at least two years.  The deal is a four year deal in total.  The Titans used the franchise tag on Derrick Henry. That will pay him a little over $12 million next season. The Titans are putting a lot of their hopes on Tnnehill and Henry. It worked last season. It will be interesting to see if that continues.

Teddy Bridgewater With the Panthers

This looks like it has potential to be a really good fit for the Panthers and for Bridgewater.  With the Panthers pushing Cam Newton out the door.  They needed to find someone to fill the void.  Bridgewater has had a very interesting and unique path in the NFL.  After getting picked by the Vikings in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft.  Bridgewater started out on what was looking to be a promising career.  Then in traning camp for the  2016 season he had a freak accident on the field.  A non contact injury to his knee cost him a whole season,  He was able to recover from that injury and get back on the field is amazing.  In his two years with the Saints he learned a lot from Sean Payton and Drew Brees.  The Saints had a choice to make to keep Bridgwater or Taysom Hill.  They decided to keep Hill.  For the Saints I am not sure that either choice was a bad choice.

For the Panthers that choice turned out to be pretty good.  The Panthers were wiling to give Bridgewater a three year $63 million contract.  Last year he showed that he can be a starting quarterback in the NFL.  When Brees went down last year with a serious thumb injury he came in and led the Saints to five straight wins.  It will be interesting to see what he can do with the Panthers.  He will not have the same weapons that he had with the Saints and it will be interesting to see if Matt Rhule will be able to bring the same kind of offense he had at Baylor to the NFL.

Many Deals Out There But Not Complete

Many of the deals out there have not been completed.  They are announced and agreed to in principle but due to Covid-19 and the social distancing mandate.  Teams have been unable to get physicals done to complete these deals.  Could you imaging if the DeAndre Hopkins deal gets nullified if he or David Johnson fail the physical.  I can see it now.  Hopkins strolls back into the Texans locker room and says Hey Bill!  Remember me????  Now that would be interesting.

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NFL CBA has Passed

It was a close vote.  The CBA passed by just 60 votes.  Strangely there was about 500 players that chose not to cast a vote.  I guess that is the way things go in our country.  The percentage of players that voted was actually higher than it is for most general elections we have in the United States.  The way I see it is if you don’t vote then you have no right to complain about the results.  They let the voting be extended and it was on line so there really was no excuse to not cast your vote.  There were some rumblings that some early voters wanted to change their vote.  It is unclear which direction they wanted to change their vote but they were denied so I guess it really does not matter.

The key parts of the new CBA

• The owners will have the right to move from a 16 game schedule to a 17 game schedule.  The first year that they will be able to make this move will be the 2021 season.  Even though this is written as they “Can” make this change it should be read as they Will make the change.  There is no chance that the Owners are not going to take that extra revenue.  It is just too much to pass up.  The players don’t like it now but after a few years they really just won’t care that much.  I thought 16 was a good number but one extra game.  So be it.
• Expanded Rosters – The expanded rosters is a pretty big deal. Teams will get to dress two extra players for games. Going from 46 to 48 players. The practice squad will also increase by two players going from 10 to 12. The 53 man roster will now become 55. The rules about moving players from practice squad to active will also be relaxed. This instantly adds 128 jobs to the league. This is a good thing for the players.
• Two teams will be added to the playoffs.  One in each conference.  This will make 7 teams in each conference.  By adding one team to make an uneven number there will only be one teams that gets a bye the first weekend of the playoffs.  This will give a lot of incentive for a team that could get the bye to try harder to get there.  It will also keep more teams in the mix to stay alive for that last playoff spot.  I thought that the 12 teams format was fine but do not have a problem with adding two more teams.  Even with 14 teams that still makes less than half the teams make the playoffs.  It is still an exclusive club and it will be interesting to see how this works out for the team that is the last in and the team that gets the bye.
• Change in Drug Policy – This is probably one that got a lot of the players to vote yes on the new CBA.  Changing what will be tested and what the punishment was going to be were huge things in this agreement.  The biggest one being the change in the marijuana policy.  There will be no more suspensions for marijuana.  That is really just following along with what is going on in our society with the legalization of marijuana.  That was something sure to catch the players attention.
• Increase revenue sharing.  The revenue that will be guaranteed to the players is also going up. It could go over 48% which is also the lowest it will be. This is also a good thing for the players.

There is a lot of good in this deal for the players.  I am also sure that the owners got a better deal than the players.  The owners knew exactly which players to target.   There are more players that make close to the league minimum.  Give those players more money and you are almost certainly going to get them to say yes.  The owners did not become billionaires with out knowing how to manipulate people.  Clearly since the players that are getting the larger pay were against it there was some bad in there.  I am all for players getting as much as they can.  I do however have difficulty feeling bad for someone making $20 million a year.

This will bring labor peace for the NFL through at least the 2030 season.  Here is to ten years of no worry about a stoppage in play.

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Now that Tom Brady is set to be a free agent.  People are again saying that it is done.  It is over and Brady is going to move on.  What if it is all just a bit of fun the Patriots are having because well they can.  Everyone is trying to figure out where he is going to go and who would come in to be the new quarterback of the Patriots.  What if they are just throwing a bunch of smoke at us and the new quarterback of the Patriots is going to be none other than Tom Brady.

Look back at the commercial that Brady did for the Super Bowl for Hulu.  They made it look like there was some big announcement and it turned out it was all just for a commercial.  They were just building a buzz and excitement to make people pay attention.  It worked.  There were people that said it was corny and dumb.  Then say that they knew it was for a commercial.  LOL right.  The only reason you thought it was corny and dumb is because Tom Brady an Hulu tricked you with it.

So who is to say that what is going on now is not the same type of thing.  Reports are out that Brady and Belichick had a phone call earlier this week and it did not go well.  Maybe they did and maybe they just had a chat about the weather.  Really the only two people that would know that are Tom Brady and Belichick.  Anything that came out from that would have to come from one of those two.  It may be second had from someone they told but only those two would really know what went on there.  I can hear it now:

Tom:   Hey Bill  how is the off season going?

Bill:  Tom things are going great here.  Little bored just going over the Combine

Tom:  Did you find a new quarterback for the upcoming season?

Bill: Very funny Tom.  See you in a few weeks for the off season prep

Tom:  I am serious this time Bill – Can hear laughing through the phone

Bill:  Tom I am serious too.  I am putting a call in to Drew Bledsoe then everything will come full circle.

They both laugh and hang up.

Of course other than those two who really knows what is going to happen.  Tom could be gone and finish out the rest of his career with another team.  Not sure what that would prove.  His legacy is set.  So is that of Bill.  Nine Super Bowls together with six wins.  That is a very impressive feat they have accomplished.  After the amount of time together I really do not see them parting ways at this point.  I see Brady coming back to the Patriots for at least one more season.  They really have earned the right to have some fun with us.  If they are then touche.

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Turns out that some people can be good at more than one thing.  Funny how that works.  No reason to hate on that person.

Tony Romo made over $120 million in his playing career.  That is a pretty nice sum to make.  He is going to end up making more as a broadcaster.  While I think these sums of money are pretty crazy.  It is what the market will bear.

When the news of what CBS was going to pay Romo started to come out.  The collective minds of all the NFL players and others exploded.  It was a very interesting reaction to someone getting paid for what they do very well.

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NFL Quarterback moves Almost Certain to Happen

Drew Brees will stay with the Saints.  This has all ready pretty much been announces.  The problem is here that the Saints will have to decide what to to with Teddy Bridgewater.  At most Brees is probably going to have two more season as an NFL Quarterback.  It is entirely possible that the 2020 season will be his last.  Last year when Brees was hurt Bridgewater stepped in and the team did not miss a beat.  Down the stretch run of the season and then in the playoffs the Saints used Taysom Hill in several situations.  I still think that Brees gives the Saints the best chance to win next year but they are going to have to decide what to do after this season is done.  Unfortunately for the Saints they are going to lose at least one of their backups quarterbacks if not both of them.  You have to go for the win now since you don’t know what tomorrow will bring.

Joe Burrow will be picked at number one by the Bengals.  I don’t care what all the talking heads say.  I have heard everything from the Bengals could trade the pick to Joe Burrow does not want to play for the Bengals.  They are just trying t drum up some crazy take.  The Bengals are not trading the pick.  Joe Burrow is the pick and he will play for the Bengals.  Burrow is a once in a decade type of player.  He has all the tools.  Physical skills as well as smarts.  Not just football smarts but he is a likable person and can deal with the media.  He is from Ohio and likes the area.  It is a natural draw.  It would be nice if the Bengals were a better organisation but maybe Burrow will be able to bring them up a bit.

Not Certain but Likely

Phillip Rivers will be playing his home games in the state of Florida.  Rivers has already moved his family to Florida.  There is nothing surprising about that.  He is done with the Chargers.  We have known this for a while.  The Dolphins and Buccaneers are both in the market for a quarterback.  Both of them could draft a long term solution and bring in a short term solution as a bridge to that future.  Rivers would be good in that roll.  The Buccaneers would make more sense since they are closer to winning then the Dolphins are.  The receivers the Buccaneers have make it very attractive for a quarterback like Rivers.  He could put up some huge numbers there.  Last year with Winston throwing to them he put up amazing numbers.  The draw back here is that Rivers is second in league in turnovers.  Trailing only the numbers that Winston put up.  Still with that they would be a good match for a two year run.

Tua Tagovailoa will be the second quarterback taken in the draft.  The Redskins are going to take Young The wild card here is Detroit.  They have said that they are staying with Stafford for the future.  If Stafford can stay healthy he probably has another 5 years to play.  The Giants are not going to take a quarterback with the fourth pick.  That brings us to the Dolphins at pick 5.  They could do the double here.  Bring in Rivers and draft Tagovailoa.   That would give Tagovailoa time to finish healing from his hip injury and to learn the position from Rivers.   If Rivers does not end up in Tampa then I could see him here.  The rebuild would be the only draw back since Rivers time is short now as an NFL Quarterback.  The Dolphins could stick with Fitspatrick and draft Tua and have the same situation.  if that happens then they would likely cut Josh Rosen lose or try to trade him.

Things are Changing Fast

Tom Brady has everyone stumped with what is going to happen here.  I have seen some crazy stuff surrounding Brady.  I am sure a lot of it is just crazy talk.  There are not 17 teams that are interested in signing him.  There are a few where it would make sense.  Lets remember that he is in his early 40’s.   The Tom Brady of today is not the Tom Brady from his last 30’s and he is certainly not the Tom Brady from his late 20’s .  He may have the smarts but it was clear that there has been a significant drop in his physical skills.  The only places that make sense are teams that have a better than average offensive line.  Of the teams that have been thrown out there it would leave Dallas – No Chance.  Tennessee – I could see this happening.  Indianapolis – that would be strange but could happen and New England – Until he is no longer on the team then this is still the most likely spot.

Justin Herbert – I have seen him all over the board.  All the way from getting picked 5th to not getting picked in the first round.  I really do see him getting picked in the first round.  Just not sure where.  i really don’t think we will know till his name is called in April.  His spot is going to continue to fluctuate.  After his showing in the Rose Bowl where he forgot the game started then came back in the second half with three touchdowns.   It kind of mirrors the up and down of how he is being projected in the draft.  How ever Herbert turns out it will really be one of those things dependent on where he lands.  Good spots for him would be with the Buccaneers or the Colts.  He would be with coaches that love to teach quarterbacks and have shown that they can do it.  The Colts pick 13th and the Buccaneers 14th so I see him going in one of those slots.

Times they are a Changing

Teddy Bridgewater has shown that he is recovered from his horrific knee injury.  When Brees got hurt and he stepped in he did all the right things.  It helps that he was on a team that was there to help him out as much as they could.  He did not make mistakes which is really all you can ask in that type of situation.  The question here is will a team be willing to pay Bridgewater starter money to bring them to their team.  It in not assured that he will be gone from the Saints and if the Saints can swing it they would be smart to bring him back.  Look at the Eagles for why it is a good reason to pay a little extra for a good back up quarterback that fits your system.  The problem here is that Bridgewater is going to hit free agency and a team may just pay more than what the Saints can offer.  I could see him ending up in New England if Brady leaves.  If the Bears decide to move on from the big T then Bridgewater could end up there.  The Chargers could also be a landing spot.

Jordan Love is all over the place.  As in people have him all over the place on the draft board.  I have seen people saying he could be the next Patrick Mahomes.  Pretty sure that is someone throwing that out there so if he turns out to be pretty good they can point back to that post and say.  “See I called it Jordan Love is the next Patrick Mahomes.”  Sure that is fine.  He has some pretty good talent and could have a really nice upside.  More than likely he is going to go somewhere in the middle of the first round. He is another one where his draft spot is going to fluctuate and no one can really predict where he is going to land. I could actually see him landing with the Steelers. Ben Roethlisberger will not be there much longer and Love could be a good fit there.  It is clear that the Steelers do not have the replacement for Big Ben on their Roster at this point.

The Wildcards

Jameis Winston has as much talent as any NFL Quarterback out there.  The problem is that even with all that talent he can’t overcome the bad choices he makes.  That could include both on and off the field. Last year he became the first quarterback ever to throw 30 touchdown passes and 30 interceptions in the same season.  In base ball being a 30 30 guy is a great thing.  In football not so much. Winston has a place in the NFL and he could still end up being a better than average quarterback.  It is pretty clear that it will not be in Tampa.  I see two places that could possibly be a fit for him and for the teams.  The Chargers and the Titans.  The Chargers would be getting a younger version of Phillip Rivers.  Big arm lots of talent but makes some mistakes.  We are talking about the number one and number two players responsible for turnovers.  With the Titans he could be the guy to put them over the top.  It would be interesting to see him go there after the history.  If in 2015 the Buccaneers had taken Marcus Mariota then Winston would have went second to the Titans.

Jake Fromm has the talent but not sure he knows it.  I have seen a few mock drafts that have the Patriots taking Fromm with the 23rd pick in the draft.  I am not sure that is going to happen but I do see Fromm going in the late 1st round or at worst the top of the 2nd round of the draft.  Fromm has a big upside and has shown to be very coach able.  This is the type of guy that Bill Belichick loves to have on his team.  So maybe this projection is not too crazy.

All of this will depend on what happens when the first quarterback change happens.  The Draft other then Joe Burrow will depend on where some of the free agents land.  This will be very interesting to follow and could change the make up of a lot of teams this year.

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In the past 35 years the NFL Scouting Combine has become a beast of its own.  It is part of the NFL plan to have something NFL Football related in every month of the year.  The thinking being that if you are out of the news cycle for too long that interest will naturally begin to fade.  The NFL powers are not wrong in that idea and have played it to perfection.  The combine was closed to tv cameras before 2003.  The event that happened in 2003 to change that was the launch of the NFL Network.  In 2004 the NFL network did a series of special on the combine to show the drills and what players had the best stats.  In the time going forward more of the event has been shown on the NFL Network and on ESPN.  In 2019 the Quarterback and Wide Receiver drills were shown in a two hour special on ABC.  Of course ABC and ESPN are both owned by Disney.  Love Disney or hate them you have to admit that they are marketing magic.

The Drills are Important—Right

I always though that the drills really did not show a lot about the skill level of the athletes invited.  The drills really show more about a certain skill level rather than what it actually means a player will be able to do in a game.  It is not uncommon for someone to come into the combine with a certain idea about where they will go in the draft.  Only for that player to way out perform in a certain drill.

All of a sudden the stock of that player is soaring and they are climbing up the draft board.  All because they had a great stat in a certain drill.  Of course the opposite is also true.  There can be a player that is projected to go high.  Under performs in a drill and their stock drops like a rock.  All because they had a slow time in the three cone drill.  Last I checked the three cone drill never shows up in a game. I could be wrong but I have never seen it.

It seems to work though as far as entertainment goes.  I am not sure of the numbers on many of the drills and how they actually translate to doing well on Sundays in the fall.  I do see teams getting blinded by the light and making changes base on the results.  There are probably pretty close to the same number of good and bad picks.  Sometimes it may be due to something that just can not be seen in person or on paper.

Effectiveness of evaluation

A lot of teams differ on how valuable the combine is.  At least to the different people on the staff.  I guess it would really depend on how you run your draft.  What staff members are responsible for evaluating the players.  It seems in the past a lot of teams have sent a large number of people to the combine to evaluate the players.  This year there are several teams that are not going to send their position coaches.  They are only going to send their scouting staff.  The reason being that they have determined that the position coaches would be better served by watching film and then working on getting plans ready for the upcoming season.  This actually makes sense to me since that is what their job is.  The job of scouts is to evaluate talent.  Which is exactly what the combine is for.  I could see this changing for a lot of teams when they decide what staff to send to the combine.

Future of the Combine

Personally I really like having the combine in Indianapolis.  it is a nice central location with relatively easy access for just about everyone.  it is a nice boost for Indianapolis and people associate the combine with the city.  I have heard some talk that once the stadium and facilities are completed for the Rams and Chargers in LA that the NFL has plans to move the combine to Los Angeles.  I really hope that is not the case.  Why change something that is not broken.  Of course I should know the answer to that question.  The NFL is not above making a change on something that is working just fine.

The combine is very interesting.  It is something that no other league has been able to fully duplicate.  The NBA comes the closest but their combine does not get nearly the attention the NFL combine gets.  What do you thing?  Let us know in the comments.

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They have to play decent football

People know that it is not going to be the best.  It also can’t be the worst.  In week one the games were sort of alright.  We got exactly what we were expecting.  Teams that have not played together.  Have had limited practice time and were still working to understand some of the new rules of the game.  It was understandable that we were not going to be getting great games in the first week.  Going into week two the teams really needed to show some improvement.  That really did not happen.  Two of the teams are already in a free fall.  The Tampa Bay Vipers and LA Wildcats are both 0 – 2 and have each given up four more touchdowns then they have scored.

Two  teams are standing out.  The Houston Roughnecks and the DC Defenders are both looking to be ahead of the pack.  So far both teams have had a pretty easy go of things.  At least it has looked that way.  This is not a good thing for a league that is starting out.  It might be nice for their fans.  It is not a good thing for the league.  The Defenders and the Roughnecks don’t play till week 7.  It is possible that they are both 6 – 0 at that point.  It could make for a good game and be a preview of the championship game that would happen a few weeks later.  If only two teams are playing decent football at this point it will be a problem

The Games have to be competitive

The games need to at least be close.  Even if there are going to be clear top and bottom teams if the games can at least be close this will keep people watching.  The ratings too a beating dropping by almost a third from week one to week two.  This was not unexpected.  Even with the drop of a third it was not as bad as the AAF where they had a drop in ratings of 50 percent.  The week two ratings are probably closer to what the ratings for the season are going to be.  That is if they can play competitive games.  So far six of the eight games played have been what I would consider to be blow out games.  That leaves only two games that were competitive.  This is not going to keep the fans watching the games.

The games have to be close or there is no way that the viewers are going to stick around.  Even with the fast pace the games have carried so far.  If the games are not close then people are going to bail on them. This also goes back to playing decent football.

Financial Backing Has to Give a Change

Vince McMahon is going to lose some money the first year of this league.  Probably even in the second year of this league.  He is going to have to decide how much he can lose before making a profit.  This was also a huge miss by the AAF.  They jumped the gun took a gamble on an investor and lost.   For this to work Vince McMahon is going to have to avoid that mistake.   I am pretty sure he will just throwing this in as a cautionary point.

XFL Week 3 is the Test

This is going to be the real test.  This is where the XFL is either going to keep those core fans coming back to watch or they are going to lose them.  This is the type of viewing where once you lose them it will be nearly impossible to get those viewers back.  For this to happen the teams need to make some major improvements.  Now that they have two games in.  The teams are at a point where they know what they really need to work on.  They should be playing more as a team now rather than as a group of players.  I really hope they can do this.  I want them so succeed.  The XFL Week 3 should give us a hint if they can make it happen.

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Houston Astros Managers Lose Jobs

This is going to come down to how do you punish the Astros for what they did?  AJ Hinch The Manager of the Astros and Jeff Luhnow General Manager and President of baseball operations lost their jobs. They lost their jobs for allowing the cheating to go on.  No players lost their jobs or were punished over this.  This happened because granting immunity was the only way to get the whole story of the cheating.  It is easy to say that they were just following the lead of a superior.  That is fine.  Not sure it is the correct choice but I get it.  Sometimes some people are going to get away with something to catch someone else.

The question is who else should get punished for this and how?   What can be done to ensure that this does not happen again.  You probably can’t completely eliminate it but how do you make it less likely that something like this will happen again.

Astros Could have Won With out Cheating

The really strange thing here is that the Astros had a really good team.  They had the build of a team that could win on their own merit.  We see this kind of stuff happen all the time.  It is the fear of losing that drives you to do strange things.  We don’t even know for sure how much of an advantage the cheating gave the Astros.  It is entirely possible that they might have been even better with out the cheating.  It is difficult to say how much pressure the chance of getting caught might have added.

I have heard several people from players to fans saying that the Astros should have their World Series Championship stripped from them.  I have never been a fan of taking away wins.  We all know what happened.  You can’t take that away.  You could mark the history book with an asterisk that says what the circumstances were that led to that win.  Taking away wins is not a punishment.  Giving that win to the team that lost.  Even if they lost to a team that cheated is a hollow victory.  All those player would still know what the result was of those games.

What Can be Done

There are several things that I can think of that could possibly be done.  Any of the people that were in management and either knew about or told the players to cheat should be banned from the game.  Depending on how bad it was there could be different levels of bans.  I don’t know what the lengths  those bans should be.  Another punishment that could work pretty well as a deterrent would be to fine the team and those involved.  It is relatively easy to figure out how much the Houston Astros Owner made during their World Series run.  Fine the Owner the profit they made from that World Series run.  Hit them right in the wallet.  If you hit people hard especially an owner and taking away their money that could serve as a pretty big deterrent.

Baseball Has not Handled This Well

Rob Manfred is getting a lot of blow back for his lack of punishment for the Astros from the Owners down to the players involved.  He said that the players are going to get pushed enough from their peers.  I do not think that he is wrong there. How ever is that punishment enough.  Hard to tell for sure.  Owners of other teams may punish the players more by not offering them contracts when it is time for them to move on from the Astros.  It would be possible for Manfred to change his stance and punish these players further.

Taking away the possibility of getting awards like making the all star game.  Preventing them from getting the player share if they do make the playoffs again.  Again it is going to come down to taking away money.  Will this work? Maybe.  They already won the game.  That will never be taken away from them.

Of course this all depends on do people care about this.  We really don’t know.  If people care they will vote with their hard earned money.  Either they will support the teams or they will not.  If they support them then we know it really does not matter and nothing more needs to be done.

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Of course hind sight it 20/20.  It is questionable if Brown is serious about his apology and admitting that there is more to a team then just one player.  Antonio Brown is one of those players that had it made.  He made some early mistakes but nothing too crazy.  Showing a team after game speech on Facebook live while the coach is talking about the game is not a great idea but something that can and was overcome.

The Antonio Brown Apology tour has been going on for the better part or the month of February.  It could be that he is just not getting enough attention.  There is a chance that he things that by saying all of this that

they NFL is going to let him back in.  I am not sure that he understands how the real world works.  The teams that he has burned so far are not going to take a chance on him again.  I do not see any way that the Steelers would want to bring him back.  I also do not see any way that the Raiders or the Patriots will bring him back either.

Antonio Brown Apology to Ben Roethlisberger

“I never realized how good I had it, got caught up in my emotion with everyone coming after me,” Brown said in his Instagram post to Roethlisberger. “I really apologize for my actions sincerely man! It’s never been another connection like what we done in the past decade. I appreciate you. Sincerely AB.”

It sounds real and it sounds sincere.  But this is nothing new.  He has been here before.  Then as just as random as this apology tour started it will end.   He thinks that he is going to get sympathy from NFL players and from the fans.  That the NFL is going to say Its okay Antonio come on back and play.  When that does not happen his attitude will change again.

It is sad that thing have gotten to this point.  Even with other players like Larry Fitzgerald trying to help him out.  Brown had not been able to save himself from himself.  I am not saying that people should give up on Antonio Brown.  I do think that is days of playing in the NFL are done.  It does not matter what he says or does from here on out.

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